


Party!Party!Party!

by coolbyrne



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolbyrne/pseuds/coolbyrne
Summary: Jack tries to convince Gibbs to dress up for Hallowe'en, just this once. Slibbs





	Party!Party!Party!

**Author's Note:**

> Out of all of my stories, this is the one that is the least likeliest to happen, and I've written quite a few! There's no way Gibbs would dress up for Hallowe'en... but I like to think maybe he would, just once, for her. 
> 
> There was a lot to work with here and a lot of story I left unsaid, mainly because I wanted it to be short and funny and just in time for Hallowe'en! For those who might not know, 'TPing' is when you wrap toilet paper outside someone's house, usually their trees, but sometimes their vehicles or whatever is handy. Not that I ever did that as a kid. Ever. Nope.

"No."

That's what he said when she asked him to go to the Hallowe'en store with her. He was adamant he wasn't going, because he was even more adamant he wasn't dressing up for the holiday. And yet, here he was, at the gratingly peppy 'Party!Party!Party!' looking at -surprise!- Hallowe'en costumes. After a meagre 6 months together, he had given up on counting the number of times he'd given in to her. She had been gracious enough to not point out how she seemed to be able to talk him into anything, but wearing a costume was the line in the sand. For sure.

"You could go as a sheriff," she suggested, flicking through hangers on a rack. 

"Nope."

"Or an astronaut," she continued, unperturbed. 

"Nope."

After the fifth suggestion and the same response, Jack snapped her fingers as if an idea just occurred to her. 

"I know! You could put a smile on your face. No one would recognize you!"

Though she tempered her verbal slap with a smile of her own, he felt the sting. But more importantly, he felt like an ass. He knew she was only trying to focus on something positive, something to take their minds off the last hellacious 2 weeks at work. It had been one of those cases, and the toll was written in the dark eyes and slumped shoulders of his team. 

When Jack said, "And it's Kasie's birthday," he wondered how much he had said out loud and how much she knew he was thinking. She was good at that- divining his thoughts. It kept him off guard but also offered a comfort he didn't expect. 

She tried a different tact. "Look at it this way, there's going to be Kasie's party then the office party. If you’re going to do it once, wouldn't you rather be in costume around your friends rather than your co-workers?"

The logic made him frown. "Why do I have to wear a costume at either one? And who said I'm goin' to the office party?'

Pretending to look at costumes, she hummed. "I suppose I could fend off Ted Baines. Again."

His frown dug deeper. "Again?"

"Oh, right, you weren't there last year. He came as an octopus. I had to fend off _eight_ hands, Gibbs. Eight! But that's fine. Bishop and I did a good job tag-teaming."

He knew by the feigned innocence on her face that she was playing up to his protective nature, but even if a portion of what she said was true-

"Why didn't you report him to HR?"

She looked up and away, as if contemplating his suggestion. "Yeah! Why didn't we report Ted Baines to the HR rep? Who's that again?"

He had forgotten the man got shifted from Accounts to HR a year ago. 

"Anyway," she went in, "maybe I'm going about this the wrong way. Maybe we should be talking about what _I'm_ going to wear." She held up a nurse's costume and he had to agree the conversation was taking a turn for the better. Seeing the glint in his eye, she leaned into him and purred, "So noted, Cowboy." The word hit her brain. "Oh! You could go as a-"

"No."

"Chaps and boots and-"

"Nope."

She grumbled. "Fine. Ready to go?"

"You haven't bought anything."

"Oh, I was just getting ideas. I've got a month."

Her nonchalance made him laugh through his impatience. He reached for the nearest bag of candy and made his way to the counter. Seeing her confusion, he shrugged. "Not wanderin' around the store for half an hour an' leavin' empty handed."

The clerk looked up, his expression a mirror of Gibbs'. "Did you find everything you were looking for at 'Party!Party!Party!'?" The exclamations were barely commas.

"I hear ya, pal," he said, handing over a ten, then handing Jack the bag of lollipops.

…..

Three weeks went by without a mention, but if he thought the holiday had been forgotten, his team reminded him when he stepped into the bullpen on Monday.

"Let me guess," Nick said, his eyes closed to prognosticate his predictions. He snapped his fingers. "McGee is some kind of Star Wars nerd and Bishop is Princess Leia."

Tim frowned at how accurate the guess was. "Okay, first, Chewbacca is not 'some kind of Star Wars nerd'."

"And second," Bishop jumped in, "I'm not Princess Leia. I was going to be, until I found out about Tim." The last sentence was low and rushed together.

Torres laughed. "I knew it!"

"How did you know who Princess Leia was?" Bishop asked with a playful accusation running through her voice.

"That's not important. What's important is-"

"-Where you 3 are gonna find another job," Gibbs finished, striding to his desk, coffee in hand. 

Tim and Bishop had the sense to pretend to be working but Nick just shrugged.

"We were just trying to figure out what you were wearing to the party."

Perhaps emboldened by Nick's bravery, Bishop said, "The party's at your place, Gibbs. You gotta wear something, right?"

"Yeah. Clothes," he replied, pushing the mouse around to bring his computer to life. 

The reminder that he was hosting the party was only a larger reminder of how much sway Jack had with him. Reflexively, he glanced up towards her office, knowing she'd be by in 4 minutes with a smile and nod that would set the rest of his day. It took nothing more than her presence to lift his mood, and she rarely asked for more in return. He sighed, partly at his curmudgeon nature and by what he was about to do.

"Bishop, you're with me."

She mouthed the words, 'Why me?' to her co-workers, but dutifully followed Gibbs to the elevator. 

They stood in silence as they waited for it to arrive, a time for Bishop that seemed like an eternity. A sidelong glance gave her nothing except the same steely countenance she had seen from him a thousand times before. Though she might be pressed to say he looked a little… embarrassed. She was in the middle of wondering if she'd see a unicorn next when the doors opened and he stepped inside. She followed him without a word, and it only took the elevator’s movement to get him to speak.

"Need your help, Bishop."

It was a testament to the loyalty he inspired that her first question wasn't 'Why?' but "What do you need me to do?"

Her immediate response, two-feet in, no questions asked except how she could help brought a small grin to his face. He flicked the emergency stop and turned to face her in the blue light.

"Apparently, I need some kinda costume."

Bishop blinked twice. "Sorry?" She held out a hand to stop him from answering, afraid her response would make him backtrack. "Yeah. I mean, yeah, you need a costume, and hell yeah, I can help you."

He pretended her newfound giddiness wasn't amusing. Gruffly, he said, "You got one shot at this, Bishop."

She nodded, understanding the parameters of his patience. "It'll be good. It'll be _so _good."

…..

"Trick or treat!!"

The chorus brought Jack to the door for the umpteenth time that night, but she didn't mind. She loved the squeals and the horror moans made by the kids who had come to the door as princesses, zombies and superheroes. 

"You guys look great!" she praised, handing out the candy. Every kid was about eye level to her lean except one, who seemed to be a rather large teenager under his Spider-Man mask. When the gaggle of kids scurried off to the next house, Spider-Man remained. She grinned when he pulled the mask off. "Nick. Pretty sure Gibbs would frown on you taking candy."

"Then he shouldn't give out full chocolate bars." He held one up. "He must be a legend!"

A yelp that sounded rather high-pitched for a male caught both their attentions. Tim made it to the door, panting through his Chewbacca mask. 

"There… is… a 7 year old… in the leaves… with a toy chainsaw."

Jack burst out laughing. "He's roped the neighbourhood kids into hiding in leaf piles and behind the bushes to scare people. I’ve heard he’s paying them in candy. You were safe once you made it into the ‘No Zombies’ zone.” Her chin pointed towards the signs that created an arc around the porch.

“Probably would’ve seen that had I been running with my eyes open,” Tim lamented.

Jack laughed again and drew them inside. Under the light, both men took in her costume, and before they could pass judgment, she said, “I know, I know. I left it too late! When I went to the store, they were all sold out.”

Nick shook his head and made a disapproving ‘tsk’, but let her off the hook somewhat. “Those pajama costumes are the ‘in’ thing.”

She looked down at herself. “This is a onesie. It was bought for me as a Christmas gift.”

Further commentary on her costume (or lack thereof) was interrupted by squealing that was definitely a child. A lumbering figure held out his arms and shuffled towards to 2 boys who had jumped out from behind the bush. Their ambush was foiled and having the tables turned elicited 2 laughing shrieks. When the figure turned to the house, it wasn’t hard to see why the kids had screamed.

“Oh my God, Jimmy,” Tim gaped, “is that you?”

The Medical Examiner lurched up the stairs and half-grinned through his prosthetic makeup. Latex stuck and hung in various spots all over his face and he’d gotten a mouth appliance molded to make his lips appear pulled back and his teeth exposed. His hair was matted with gel and fake blood that had dripped down his face. Nick leaned in for a closer look.

“None of that is real, right?”

Jimmy waved away the question. “Of course not! I mean, I had thought of using a few maggots to really give the costume that extra something, but I was pretty sure Agent Gibbs wouldn’t approve.”

Jack wrinkled her nose, Nick winced, and Tim said, “You’ve been around dead people too long, Jimmy.”

Nick looked around. “Speaking of Gibbs…?”

“He went out to get more candy,” Jack said. “Come in the living room. We’ve got actual healthy things for you, Nick.”

“Yeah,” he said, pulling at his costume, “this spandex shows _everything_.”

“Trick or treat!!” came the demand once more.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” she told the trio. “Leon and Ducky are already here.”

She opened the door and dispensed candy and tried not to dwell too much on the unexpected joy she got out of doing something some people might categorize as ‘domestic’, tried not think how easy it had been to slip into the role and how natural he had made it. Luckily for her, Bishop’s arrival prevented further introspection. Jack gave Bishop’s tight black jumpsuit a once over and gave the red wig a nod of approval. 

“I have no idea who you’re supposed to be, but you look amazing!”

“Well, I was supposed to be Princess Leia, but Tim axed that when he said he was going to be Chewbacca. So I’m Black Widow.”

It took Jack a second, then she snapped her fingers. “The Avengers.”

“Right!”

“You’ll be happy to know one of your avenging teammates is inside.” Seeing Bishop’s curious expression, Jack smiled. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Come on in before the little zombies get you.”

Bishop spoke as she walked into the house. “Those kids are super scary!”

“Tim squealed. Don’t tell him I told you.”

They were just about into the living room when the chorus summoned her back to the door.

“There are a _lot_ of kids in this neighbourhood!” Jack marvelled. 

But when she opened the door, there weren’t any kids. There weren’t any... anybody. The yard was silent, the hired zombies nowhere to be seen, even as she peered intently into the leaf piles. In fact, the street itself seemed empty, as if sneaking away to leave her peering into the night. The cool air brushed over her and she was just about to turn in when she saw it under the tree. Or rather, him. The streetlight cast him in shadow, but she could pick out his frame anywhere. Even if it was covered in green Army fatigues. Slowly, she descended the short porch steps and walked towards him while he stood stock still, in a ‘Port, arms’ position she knew well from her own Army experience. It was only when she got within touching distance that she realized the green wasn’t natural, but sprayed on. In fact, the green was sprayed. Everywhere. Hands. Face. Helmet. Boots.

When her eyes looked down, she saw he was standing on a thin base that was as green as the rest of his-

“Oh my God,” she said, recognizing the reference at last. “You’re an Army Man.”

“In costume only, Ma’am.” His bright blue eyes shone out from the bright green face paint.

His first words, keeping him forever loyal to his beloved Marines made her throw her head back and laugh before she threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him. Her public display made him hesitate for a split second, but only long enough to drop the toy gun and return the kiss, turning it from quick and chaste to slow and languid. His hands slipped around her waist and dropped lower, until it came in contact with-

“Is that a tail?”

“I’m a lamb,” she said against his lips, not yet willing to give up the contact. “I can’t believe you did this.” 

“Bishop did this,” Gibbs admitted. “I just stood there while she painted.”

Jack pulled back just enough to take a look down her front. “That’s not going to smear on my costume, is it?”

“You mean your ‘onesie’?” he asked, the word sounding foreign and yet teasing. “No.”

“I left it too late and the store didn’t have anything, okay?” 

“Hey. I wasn’t sayin’ anything.”

“Hmph.” Her tone was indignant even if she swayed in closer.

“I got that nurse’s uniform upstairs if you want to change.”

“What?”

“It was probably the biggest smile the kid at ‘Party!Party!Party!’ had in weeks.” His ‘onesie’ drawl was surpassed only by the way he mock-cheered the store’s name. “I was going to save it for later, but-”

She slapped his arm. “You’re wicked.” Her lips touched his again. “I like that about you.”

Her seductive confession made him laugh against her. “Should we get inside or should we make out?”

“On the street? For your zombie minions to see? Probably not.” The face he seemed to be contemplating the options made her shake her head. “I did say ‘wicked’, right? Come on, Kasie should be here soon.” Tugging at his hand, she let him pick up the gun before leading him into the house.

“Hey, Bishop!” she called out. “Found your Army Man outside.” She turned the corner and held out her arm to announce Gibbs’ arrival. While the sight of seeing their friend and boss in full costume would be enough on any other day to stop everyone dead in their tracks, Jack couldn’t figure out why all their attention was on her. Until Gibbs coughed lightly and arched his eyebrow towards the mirror.

He hadn’t lied when he assured her the green paint didn’t get on her costume. But he said nothing about the makeup that might transfer to her face. Specifically in the region of her mouth. She closed her eyes and blindly slapped him in the gut.

“I am _so_ TPing your house later,” she said.

…..

-end


End file.
